


Territory

by sluttycrimehat



Series: in the company of wolves [1]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:01:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23512801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sluttycrimehat/pseuds/sluttycrimehat
Summary: She ought to have known better than to wander the woods alone at night.
Relationships: Hector & Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Rapunzel & Varian (Disney)
Series: in the company of wolves [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1691842
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	Territory

**Author's Note:**

> Set in an AU myself and mogadeer have cobbled together that we're calling In The Company of Wolves.

It was always so easy to lose track of time when she was at the treehouse. Even more so now that she found herself busy sharing her secret place with someone else. When Varian wasn’t with her in it, she liked to sneak away and make her place feel more like their place. There wasn’t a whole lot to be done for the most part, but she liked to do what she could. Even if all that meant was fixing up a space just for his things, or bringing extra blankets for his next visit. 

It was the little things. They always counted. 

And it was those little things that had kept her well out past sunset, and she realized this perhaps a little too late. Just a few short months ago, this wouldn’t have even been a problem. There had been no wolf attacks then. 

She doesn’t blame the wolves for the attacks, she never has and she never will. No one else in her little village seems to believe her, but she’s sure there’s a reason for it, and she’s going to get to the bottom of it. 

Faith in the animals aside, though, that doesn’t make the woods or the wolves any less dangerous, especially now that night has fallen. She knows her way, though, and if she’s brisk and undeterred, she likes to think she should make it home just fine. All inevitable dealings with her father aside, of course. 

She leaves the treehouse, more or less content with the bit of work she put in this evening. She would have liked to stay longer, but she’s already stayed out much too late. Her parents, especially her father, are going to be worried sick. Not that she blames them, either. 

The night air is cool and the moon is full, its light gleaming off of the snow on the ground. It’s almost like the woods are glowing, and it may have been a pleasant thought but everything around her is so quiet and still. At most, she can hear the breeze rustle the bare tree branches, rattling them like bones. It’s eerie, and all the motivation she needs to get going. 

She doesn’t make it very far before something catches her attention. The sound of movement, of footfalls, freezes her in place. She does her best to peer into the trees through the dim moonlight, but her vision swims, distorted by the night, and all she sees are shadows. 

The sound is coming closer, and it’s careful and calculated, and she can’t tell if it’s an animal or another human being. And, honestly, she’s not sure which she’d rather it be. 

And then she hears it, something that makes her blood run cold. Something growls, low and deep and in a way she’s never heard anything growl before. She whirls around against her better judgement to face whatever horror may be there staring back at her, and - 

It’s Hector, and his green eyes seem to shimmer in the strangest way in the moon’s light. Rapunzel’s brows knit together, and she wonders if maybe she just imagined the growling. She had been so worked up, it’s possible her imagination got the better of her in the moment. Hector is just standing there, after all, and he doesn’t seem to be bothered in the least. 

“Don’t you know better than to go wandering about the woods at night?” he questions, and Rapunzel idly thinks that caution shouldn’t come with a grin like that. “There are wolves about, you know.” 

“I - I know that. I was just… I lost track of time, and - I’m on my way back home now!” It’s a poor argument, but at least it’s the truth. 

“I’ll walk you there,” Hector says, and it’s not really a suggestion or an offer. She can’t say no. “We wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you on the way.”

He offers his arm to her, and it’s more out of politeness than anything that Rapunzel loops her arm about his. He pulls her closer as they begin to work, even drapes the fur he always wears about her shoulders. 

“I’m sure I could have managed on my own, Hector. This,” she clears her throat, offers him a weak smile as she nods to the cape, to their interlocked arms, “really isn’t necessary.” 

There’s that grin again, sharp in its own way. “I insist.” He was hired by her father to protect the village from the wolves, after all; maybe he’s just taking his job a little too seriously. 

“Well… Thank you, then,” Rapunzel says quietly. Her spine stiffens just a little when his free hand is suddenly on hers as it rests against his bicep. It drops away again quick enough, fleeting but impressionable. Her hand suddenly feels colder, despite the warmth of him. 

“My pleasure, Red Riding Hood,” he replies, and there’s a lilt in his voice that she can’t quite place. The callback to her red cloak may have been playful, coming from anybody else. Coming from Hector, though, it sounds somehow sinister.

When they finally reach her home, safe and unscathed, that’s when he finally lets her go. Even then, however, his touch still lingers, fingers running down her forearm and brushing her knuckles as they break apart. 

“Tell your father you were with me,” he tells her. “He’ll know you were safe, then.” 

Rapunzel offers him a weak smile, and she hopes it doesn’t look as forced as it feels. “I will,” she says. “Thank you, Hector.” 

After he leaves, and she’s safe and sound behind a locked door, something in the distance - but not quite far enough away - howls. 

—

When he finds her in the woods, she reeks of the whelp. It’s not that surprising, given how much time they spend together, but it seems like every time Hector runs into her, she smells more and more like Varian. It’s a silly thing to be bothered by - and maybe bothered isn’t quite the right word - but Hector has already long since made up his mind to do something about it. 

Even if neither of them will really realize it. Rapunzel is only human, after all, and while the closeness of him makes her uneasy as they walk, she’d never know he was leaving his scent all over her. And Varian… Well, he hasn’t quite come into his skin yet, Hector’s still working on that, but the wolf in him is there. And it will know, even if Varian doesn’t.


End file.
